Socioeconomic predictors of forest use values in the Peruvian Amazon: A potential tool for biodiversity conservation

Conservation is a crisis discipline requiring rapid action with limited funds. This study examines the potential of socioeconomic variables to predict forest use values. If natural resource use can be predicted from socioeconomic data, conservation planners could rapidly identify and focus conservation programs on the sectors of local populations that most intensively utilize local flora and fauna. Families in three communities in the northern Peruvian Amazon were surveyed over a 6-month period. Data were collected on use of flora and fauna from six locally determined use categories (food, medicine and poisons, wood, weavings, adornments, and “other”) in forest types of three age classes (fallow fields—very young forests, young secondary forests, and old secondary forests). Forest use values were the dependant variables calculated in $/ha/year. Socioeconomic variables included: age, education, family size, residence time, land worked, land owned, number of fishing nets, chickens, pigs, cows, and/or mules owned (all proxies for productive assets), and level of ecological knowledge (ability of informants to correctly identify forest species and answer basic questions about their biology). Ordinary least square multiple regressions were run independently for each forest type. Regressions were also run separately for the two most valuable use categories, food and wood. Low R² adjusted values (all < 0.3) reflect the difficulty in predicting human behavior due to confounding variables and complex interactions. Residence time and a household's community of residence were the most significant predictors of forest use values. Households in Vista Alegre, the community with the highest density of people and smallest landholdings per household, extracted the highest value of forest products per hectare. The longer a family stayed in any community the higher the value of forest goods they extracted. If families that lived in an area longest are the most intensive extractors of forest products, they should be a major focus for conservation programming. In addition, the higher value of products extracted from forests by some families may make them more open to strategies seeking to protect long-term viability of the resources they utilize. The importance of residence time also indicates that planners need to account for changes in the resource use patterns of stakeholders over time.     

Carbon Taxes and Joint Implementation. An Applied General Equilibrium Analysis for Germany and India

Germany has committed itself toreducing its carbon emissions by 25 percent in2005 as compared to 1990 emission levels. Toachieve this goal, the government has recentlylaunched an environmental tax reform whichentails a continuous increase in energy taxesin conjunction with a revenue-neutral cut innon-wage labor costs. This policy is supposedto yield a double dividend, reducing both, theproblem of global warming and high unemploymentrates. In addition to domestic actions,international treaties on climate protectionallow for the supplementary use of flexibleinstruments to exploit cheaper emissionreduction possibilities elsewhere. One concreteoption for Germany would be to enter jointimplementation (JI) with developing countriessuch as India where Germany pays emissionreduction abroad rather than meeting itsreduction target solely by domestic action. Inthis paper, we investigate whether anenvironmental tax reform cum JI providesemployment and overall efficiency gains ascompared to an environmental tax reformstand-alone. We address this question in theframework of a large-scale general equilibriummodel for Germany and India where Germany mayundertake JI with the Indian electricitysector. Our main finding is that JI offsetslargely the adverse effects of carbon emissionconstraints on the German economy. JIsignificantly lowers the level of carbon taxesand thus reduces the total costs of abatementas well as negative effects on labor demand. Inaddition, JI triggers direct investment demandfor energy efficient power plants produced inGermany. This provides positive employmenteffects and additional income for Germany. ForIndia, joint implementation equips itselectricity industry with scarce capital goodsleading to a more efficient power productionwith lower electricity prices for the economyand substantial welfare gains.     

Structural Decomposition Analysis of Physical Flows in the Economy

Many environmental problems can be attributedto the extraction and emissions of physicalsubstances. Increasing our understanding of theeconomic and technological driving forcesbehind these physical flows can contribute tosolving the environmental problems related tothem. The input-output framework is a usefulsetting in which to integrate detailedinformation about economic structure andphysical flows. In this article a specificmethod in input-output analysis is reviewed,namely Structural Decomposition Analysis (SDA).It is based on comparative static analysis,which decomposes historical changes of a policyvariable into determinant effects. SDA has beenapplied, for example, to analyze the demand andtechnological driving forces of energy use,CO₂-emissions and various other pollutantsand resources. This article examines thetheoretical aspects of structuraldecomposition, in particular those concerningphysical flows and environmental issues.Furthermore, the article includes an extensivesurvey of empirical studies.     

我国生物能源产业的发展前景与对策

生物能源产业是一个正在兴起并富有巨大前途的新型产业。发展生物能源产业有利于解决能源危机，有利于环境保护，有利于促进农村经济的发展。与国外相比，我国生物能源产业的发展还相对比较落后，为加快我国生物能源产业的发展，应尽快制定生物能源产业发展的产业政策，加大对生物质能产业的扶持力度，加强生物质能开发研究。     

徐州市生态经济系统的能值分析

本文应用能值理论．对徐州地区生态经济系统进行了分析．主要涉及能值投入率、能值使用强度（能值密度）、人均能值使用量、人口承载力、电力能值使用量比、能值一货币比、环境负荷率、净能值产出率、可持续发展指数等9个指标及其发展趋势，并与其他国家和地区的有关指标进行了比较研究。结论表明，徐州市是资源输出型的生态经济区域，经济发展仍处于欠发达阶段．还有较大的经济发展潜力。     

In search of marginal environmental valuations — ecosystem services in Finnish forest accounting

There is currently substantial interest in valuing various services provided by different ecosystems. Concurrently economists have ascribed substantial effort on expanding traditional forest accounting systems by environmental services. This paper contributes to curtailing the existing gap between green accounting theory and applications for valuing forest ecosystem services. The multitude of links between forest ecosystem services and economy are characterized by the theoretical model for forest-economy interactions. By utilizing recently updated data we also incorporate empirical value estimates of these services comparable to other goods into Finnish forest accounting system. Finally, we discuss some problems encountered and clarify the interpretation of some value estimates incorporated to national forest account.     

杭嘉湖平原地区土地利用变化驱动机制分析

选择位于杭嘉湖平原地区社会经济快速发展的浙江省海盐县为研究区,利用遥感数据,对研究区土地利用类型的空间转移与格局变化进行分析的基础上,选取研究区土地利用变化的社会经济驱动因子,运用典型相关分析方法诊断各社会经济驱动因子对土地利用变化格局形成贡献作用的大小,同时运用典型相关系数和冗余度分析,检验了分析结果。研究结果表明,人口密度、单位面积工业总产值、单位面积农业总产值、城镇化水平、农民人均年纯收入等5个因子是影响研究区土地利用变化的主要社会经济驱动因子。     

Economic Potential of Biomass Based Fuels for Greenhouse Gas Emission Mitigation

Use of biofuels diminishes fossil fuelcombustion thereby also reducing net greenhousegas emissions. However, subsidies are neededto make agricultural biofuel productioneconomically feasible. To explore the economicpotential of biofuels in a greenhouse gasmitigation market, we incorporate data onproduction and biofuel processing for thedesignated energy crops switchgrass, hybridpoplar, and willow in an U.S. AgriculturalSector Model along with data on traditionalcrop-livestock production and processing, andafforestation of cropland. Net emissioncoefficients on all included agriculturalpractices are estimated through crop growthsimulation models or taken from the literature. Potential emission mitigation policies ormarkets are simulated via hypothetical carbonprices. At each carbon price level, theAgricultural Sector Model computes the newmarket equilibrium, revealing agriculturalcommodity prices, regionally specificproduction, input use, and welfare levels,environmental impacts, and adoption ofalternative management practices such asbiofuel production. Results indicate no rolefor biofuels below carbon prices of $40 perton of carbon equivalent. At these incentivelevels, emission reductions via reduced soiltillage and afforestation are more costefficient. For carbon prices above $70,biofuels dominate all other agriculturalmitigation strategies.     

基于能值分析的江苏生态经济系统发展态势及持续发展对策

能值分析方法可同时定量研究生态经济系统中环境资源与经济活动的真实价值，因而对合理评估区域经济发展水平、制订正确的社会经济发展对策具有十分重要的意义。文章运用能值分析方法对江苏生态经济系统的发展现状及近20年来的发展态势进行了定量分析，并提出实现江苏生态经济系统持续发展的对策建议。     

2017年北京社区卫生服务中心处方集中点评结果

目的汇总分析北京市16个区县近100家社区卫生服务中心处方抽样点评的结果,比较各区之间的差异,细化点评结果,促进全市合理用药。方法抽取2017年6月第2周,全门诊不包括草药处方,共计50189张处方,进行精细化集中点评。结果2017年北京16个区县社区卫生服务中心平均处方金额为160.07元,注射剂使用率为5.56%,全部基本药物占比为68.29%,处方的不合理率为8.8%。结论对于北京市社区卫生服务中心门诊处方集中点评最应改进的为统一点评标准,其次还应完善处方管理,强化药剂师自身的业务学习.